Bet365 Stadium: Stoke City FC

Despite the feeling that The Britannia Stadium, now the Bet365 Stadium, has been around forever, it was, in fact, opened officially on the 30th August 1997. It cost £14.7 million and was a replacement for The Victoria Ground, the stadium that Stoke had called home since 1878.

The Britannia Stadium gained its name from the fact that it was sponsored by The Britannia Building Society, the company being instrumental in the funding of the new ground. Unfortunately The Britannia Building Society has now gone bust, but Stoke City did keep the name of the ground due to fan pressure. As of 2016 the ground is now named after sponsors Bet365, the international bookie began life in Stoke and still has offices based there employing a lot of local people. The owners of Bet365 are massive Stoke City fans and are sure to maintain investment in the stadium now they've added their name to it.

Stoke City themselves have gone from being one of the Premier League’s most unpopular teams thanks to the style of football introduced by former manager Tony Pulis to becoming widely admired under the leadership of Mark Hughes. The former Manchester United midfielder has got the team playing some attractive football with a squad containing more Champion’s League winning players than any other team in the league.

Bet365 Stadium Seating Plan & Where to Sit

The Bet365 Stadium is considered to be one of the trickiest club grounds to play in thanks to its location and design. There are essentially three stands in the stadium, owing to the fact that the East Stand and North Stand are actually one L-shaped structure. That means that two corners of the ground are exposed to the wind and the rain, allowing for tricky playing conditions on days when the whether is found wanting.

Boothen End sponsored by Novus & The DPD Stand - The Boothen End, or North Stand, is connected to The DPD Stand to make one large stand that surrounds half of the pitch. The DPD Stand also houses the Family area.

The Q-Railing Stand - Also known as The West Stand, The Q-Railing Stand is two-tiered and houses not only the club’s spectators but also the corporate and media facilities.

The Marston’s Pedigree Stand - Also called The South Stand, The Marston’s Pedigree Stand is so named because of its sponsorship by the Marston’s brewery. This is the stand that houses the away supporters are housed. Because home supporters can also sit in this stand there is some segregation that means the stadium loses some seats from its overall capacity.

Stoke City Ticket Prices

Each club in the Premier League tends to arrange the price of its tickets based on a categorisation of matches, and Stoke City are no different. They have eschewed the usual naming of the categories, going for A,, A and B rather than the more standard A, B and C categories.

Here we’ll give you the cheapest and the most expensive ticket prices in each category for matches at The Britannia for both adults and concessions. A concession, according to Stoke, is anyone over 65, though the same price is also applicable to anyone aged over 17 and under 21.

League Games

Category A,: £40 - £50 / £27 - £35

Category A: £30 - £40 / £21 - £29

Category B: £25 - £35 / £19 - £27

How To Get Stoke City Tickets

The club’s website is the best place to start if you’re looking to get tickets. You can also phone the club’s ticket sales hotline and you’ll be able to pick tickets up from official third party sources, too. It is likely that some people will be offering match tickets near the ground on the day of games, but these aren’t always genuine so we’d advise that you avoid them. Stoke rarely sell out their games, so you’ll almost certainly be able to pick a genuine ticket up from the box office located at the ground.

Getting To Bet365 Stadium

Located in the heart of Staffordshire, access to The Bet365 Stadium is reasonably easy by numerous means.

train - Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station can be reached on a direct train from London, Birmingham, Manchester, Derby and Crewe. From there the club actually puts on shuttle buses from Glebe Street in the town centre to the stadium itself..

Bus - The number 20 bus runs from Stand N at Stoke’s centrally located bus station all the way to the ground.

Car - The stadium itself is located just off the A50, so leave the M6 at junction 15 and take the second exit for the A500. Exit the A500 onto the A50 and you’ll be able to see the Britannia in front of you. If you’re coming from the East just get onto the A50 and follow it until you get to the stadium.

By Air - Both Manchester Airport and East Midlands Airport have relatively good access to Stoke-On-Trent. From East Midlands you get a connecting bus to Derby and then the train to Stoke, whilst from Manchester you get a train from the airport to Piccadilly station and then another train to Stoke from there.

Taxi - There is a taxi stand right outside Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station. It’ll cost you about £8 and take around 10 minutes, traffic dependent.

Parking Near Bet365 Stadium

Officially the North, West 1 and West 2 car parks are restricted on match days to those who have parking permits. There is another car park to the South that sells its limited spaces on a first come first served basis. Unofficially there is plenty of on-street parking in Hanley, about 2 miles or so from the stadium and with good access to the ground.

Slightly further afield - 10 miles away in fact – is Whilston Hall Golf Club. Aside from the golf course on site there is also a conference centre and a bar for you to enjoy a drink in before you head off to the match. More details.

The Power League

A bit of a random one this one, but possibly the closest place to the stadium that will allow away fans to enter as it’s just 300 yards away. They positively encourage families to pop along too, if you’re heading to the match with the kids.

The White Star

63 Kingsway, Stoke-On-Trent, ST4 1JB (01782 848732)

Named after the shipping line that owned The Titanic, The White Star offers a warm welcome and some tasty food. It’s centrally located, too, so you won’t have far to travel to make it to the ground.

Facilities

Like all top end Premier League clubs, the facilities at Stoke City are as good as you’d imagine. In fact, having been built as recently as 1997 The Britannia’s facilities are better than most. From places to buy a bite to eat or a quick drink before the match through to places to stick a bet on the game with the club’s partner Bet365, The Britannia won’t disappoint from the point of view of what you can get in the stadium itself.

Prices

Programme: 3.50

Pie: 2.90

Cup of tea: 2.20

Hospitality

The Bet365 Stadium offers the sort of match day hospitality we’ve come to expect from all Premier League clubs. From the Tony Waddington Suite through to The Stanley Matthews Lounge via The 1863 Lounge and numerous executive boxes, there are choices to suit most budgets and desires.

For example, The 1863 Lounge was named after the year that the club was founded and here you’ll get complimentary refreshments at both half-time and full-time, tasty hot food and premium seating for the match itself. In The Stanley Matthews Suite, named after one of the club’s most famous players, you’ll get a two course buffet, waiter/waitress service, Executive VIP padded seating and a cash bar.

Private Hire

Whether you’re hoping to hold a party in the home of your favourite football club or you want to host a conference in unique surroundings, The Bet365 Stadium has got you covered. The club have ploughed a huge amount of money into ensuring their conference facilities are amongst the best in the country, hoping that their location in Staffordshire will attract business from both the North and the South.

For the ultimate Potters fan that is hoping to tie the knot, the club also hosts weddings at The Bet365 Stadium. Stoke have dedicated wedding planners to help you organise your special day, so you can hold a big affair in The Tony Waddington Suite or a smaller gathering in one of the club’s 3 licensed suites.

Stadium Tours & Museum

You can tour The Bet365 Stadium throughout the week, though you need to book two weeks in advance to avoid disappointment. You’ll get to see both sets of dressing rooms, The Sir Stanley Matthews Lounge, executive boxes, the tunnel and, of course, the pitch side dugouts.

Tours are expected to last for around 45 minutes and will set you back £25 for groups of 5 or less, £35 for groups of 6-10 and £45 for groups of 11-20. The club can also accommodate larger groups but you’ll need to contact them directly in order to organise that.

About Stoke City

Founded in 1863 at Stoke Ramblers, the club changed its name to Stoke City in 1925, the same year that Stoke-On-Trent was granted city status. One of their claims to fame is that they’re the second oldest professional club in the world after Notts County. That also means that they’re one of the founding members of the Football League.

The main success the club boasts comes from the boast, with their promotion to the Premier League in 2008 the first time they’d enjoyed top-flight football for 23 years. Their honours include the Football League trophy in 1992 and 2000. They finished as FA Cup runners up in 2011, losing out to Manchester City, and have reached the semi-finals of that competition three times.

Notable former managers include Alan Ball, the former Arsenal and Everton player who was the youngest member of England’s 1966 World Cup winning squad. Lou Macari, who played over 400 games for Mancheser United, had two spells as Stoke manager in the early and mid nineties. The club has also been managed by Chris Kamara, the former player who is now better known for his punditry on Sky Sports.

Bet365 Stadium History

The Britannia is a purpose built, all-seater stadium that replaced the Victoria Ground, Stoke’s previous home, in 1997. As well as hosting football matches, the ground has also been the location for numerous concerts by performers as diverse as Bryan Adams, Elton John and Bon Jovi. There is a bar on-site, called Delilah’s Bar, and a club shop with Stoke specific merchandise on sale.

The ground cost £14.7 million to build and has a capacity of 27,902. The capacity was originally 28,384 but had to be reduced in order to allow for the segregation of fans. Former Stoke City player Sir Stanley Matthews, who officially opened the stadium on August 30th 1997, had his ashes buried underneath the center circle when he died in February 2000.

The ground was renamed for the 2016/17 Stadium after sponsors Bet365 although it may take a while for the new name to stick, fans will likely always know it as the Britannia Stadium.